


break me down and build me up

by Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends



Series: found family and fightin' the man [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (it's past kidnapping), (it's super vague), (literally everyone has a troubled childhood that's mentioned), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Banter, Broken Bones, Childhood Trauma, Found Family, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Kid Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Kidnapping, Morally Neutral Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Morally Neutral Deceit Sanders, Nightmares, Violence, blood mention, death mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24354601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends/pseuds/Story_Teller_Of_Untold_Legends
Summary: In a world run by an organization that tears young supers from their homes, Janus and Remus stand out as rogues from the Academy. They try to break in and steal a weapon from the Academy to give them an edge over the twisted organization. But the weapon isn't what it seems to be, and the two of them find everything they thought they knew changing once again.(this is a prompt fill from my tumblr, storytellerofuntoldlegends! the prompt was from vintage-squid: "Ooooo prompt time! 'You're safe with me. I'll protect you.' With familial Virgil, Deceit, and Remus?")
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders
Series: found family and fightin' the man [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758361
Comments: 16
Kudos: 163





	break me down and build me up

**Author's Note:**

> Fic title from the song Whatever It Takes by Imagine Dragons

Janus crouched on top of the building, glaring down at the facility in front of him. According to his sources, the Academy had locked away some sort of weapon inside. If he could get the weapon before the Academy used it against rogue supers… it would mean turning the tide for everyone the Academy deemed unworthy of training. 

The Academy was a ruthless organization that tore young, superpowered children from their homes, and if they weren’t worth their time to train, they would be thrown out on the streets to die. Janus hadn’t been one of those kids, but instead once was a highly trained super from the Academy… only to realize that they had turned him into a weapon, not a hero.

So Janus had ran- or teleported, rather. His superpower was being able to disappear into a flurry of golden sparks, then reappear anywhere as long as he could see it or clearly picture it. He had taken his best and only friend Remus along with him, as the young electrokinetic had become like a younger brother to him. Remus did have a biological twin brother… but neither of them knew what had happened to him. All they knew was that he had been taken with Remus, thinking that he had powers as well, and when it turned out that he was just a regular little boy, he was cast out. So nowadays, Janus and Remus were determined to bring down the Academy, find Remus’s twin brother, and maybe end up with a normal life. But it would be a long time before then.

“Ready for a blackout, Jan?” Remus’s voice asked through the communicator.

“No, I thought I’d sit on top of this building for a bit,” he snarked back. Remus cackled, and Janus soon heard the unmistakable crackle of Remus’s electricity. The facility’s lights flickered out… as well as all the buildings in the city block. Janus chuckled, tapping the side of his goggles to engage the night-vision mode. He spotted Remus crouching in the shadows beside the Academy’s once secure facility, and a smirk came to his lips as he disappeared in a flurry of golden sparks. He reappeared next to Remus, who gave him a lopsided grin.

“Nice of you to join me,” he teased.

“Supposed I should show up. You wait out here while I secure the weapon,” Janus said, his dry tone shifting to a firm order in a matter of moments. Remus nodded curtly, green electricity buzzing between his fingertips. Janus hoped that he wouldn’t get cocky and jump the gun on the Academy agents… but on the other hand, the less agents Janus had to deal with, the better.

“Good luck. And… be careful,” Remus said, tone strangely serious. Janus allowed a small smile to slip onto his face.

“You too,” he replied, and with that, Janus darted into the building. 

The first few corridors seemed empty, but as Janus made his way closer into the belly of the beast, there were more and more agents he had to avoid. He didn’t want to engage them unless absolutely necessary- he was no good to the rogue supers of the world if he was caught. So sneaking around it was, and if worse came to worse, he would teleport away. It just was a bit riskier, since he didn’t completely know the facility. If one of his teleports went wrong, he could end up causing severe harm to himself.

Luckily, he made it to where the weapon was being held. Unluckily, the doors were heavily guarded. Two agents probably twice Janus’s size were standing in front of the doors, arms crossed over their chest. They carried no physical weapons, which meant that their powers must have been pretty substantial. Janus rolled his shoulders back. No way he could teleport into the weapon room- he had no idea what it looked like beyond the doors, and he couldn’t risk it. So he had no choice but to fight his way in.

“Pardon me, but I believe it’s time for the changing of the guards?” Janus announced, strolling into open view.

“It is?” one of the agents asked. The other agent smacked them on the back of the head.

“No it’s not, idiot! He’s an intruder!” the other agent snapped. They reached for their communicator, but Janus teleported over and snatched both of their communicators, then teleported away again.

“Oh, there’s also a new rule being enforced- no communicators, so you won’t be needing these,” Janus taunted, dropping the communicators and crushing them beneath his foot.

“Hey!” the first agent cried indignantly. Janus rolled his eyes.

“Oh? What are you gonna do about it?” he snarked. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say, as the agent lunged forward, their hands extending out at Janus and wrapping around him. Of course, this agent just had to be an elasticity super. Their stretchy limbs tightened around Janus, and he struggled to breathe for a moment or two- until he remembered that he could just teleport out of the super’s grip. He disappeared in a flurry of sparks, then reappeared right over the agent’s head, delivering a swift kick to their face before backflipping away from them. The agent crumpled to the ground, and Janus looked down at them with a self-satisfied smirk.

His moment of triumph was interrupted when something slammed into his back, and he fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. He laid on the floor, too out of it to try and get up. Someone else made that decision for him, as he was grabbed by his wrist and was pulled up so that he was face to face with the other agent. Their face (as well as the rest of their body) had turned to stone, and Janus was coherent enough to swallow nervously.

“Listen here, punk. What are you planning?” they growled.

“You must be as thickheaded as the stone your face is made of if you haven’t figured out what I’m trying to do,” Janus scoffed. Too late, Janus realized that this was the wrong thing to say, as the agent’s face twisted with fury, and they tightened their grip on his wrist. Janus felt something snap in his wrist, and he screamed in pain as white-hot agony blinded his vision for a moment or two. He dimly felt the agent’s other hand come up to grip his chin and force his gaze to meet theirs.

“I’ll give you one more chance. What are you- augh!” the agent suddenly cried out in pain and dropped Janus. He managed to roll away before the agent suddenly fell forward. Janus began to push himself up to his feet, only to find someone above him, holding out their hand.

“Remus,” Janus gasped in relief.

“Bet you’re glad that I followed you in,” Remus replied with a grin as he helped Janus up. He draped Janus’s good arm over his shoulder and let the other super lean on him as they made their way to the door. But when Remus shoved the door open so they could step inside… neither of them were prepared for the sight that met them. The only thing that was in the room was a control panel of some sort that was hooked up to a large glass cylinder in the center of the room. And inside the cylinder? A seemingly normal  _ boy _ , sat on the floor of the cylinder and hugging his knees. He was wearing dark jeans and a threadbare long-sleeved purple t-shirt, and he couldn’t have been more than eight years old.

“Remus, the cylinder must have its own power source, can you shut it off and get him out?” Janus asked urgently.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Remus replied, yet again strangely serious. He gently dislodged himself from Janus, and walked over to the control panel. He examined the panel for a moment or two, then slammed his fists down on top of it, sending green electricity rocketing through it. A section of the cylinder swung open, and in an instant, Janus felt a wave of fear shoot through him. It was powerful enough to send him to his knees, and he was greeted with a flurry of horrifying images. Remus sprawled out on the ground, a dark pool of red around him and his trademark chaotic smile nowhere to be seen. But it wasn’t just Remus- it was hundreds, maybe even thousands of bodies of people- no,  _ children _ . All those that were cast out by the Academy.

Janus blinked, and the horrifying vision was gone. He glanced over to see Remus, the  _ real _ Remus curled up on the floor and gripping at his hair. Janus looked back to where the child had been sitting before, and found him in the same position. Janus struggled to his feet, and began to stagger towards the boy.

“ **Go away!** ” the boy cried, voice distorted and echoey. Janus felt another pulse of fear, and promptly realized that it was the boy who was causing it.

“It’s okay! We’re here to help you! My name is Janus, what’s yours?” he asked, taking another step forward. There was another shuddering pulse of fear, but it seemed weaker. That, or Janus was just getting used to them.

“ **I- I’m Virgil** ,” the boy said, peeking up at Janus. His eyes were pitch black, but they were filled with as much terror as the boy was causing. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Virgil. Would you like to come down from there? My friend, Remus, and I can get you out of here. We just need you to calm down a little bit first,” Janus offered, trying to keep his voice as soothing as possible. Virgil perked up a bit, head cocked to the side curiously.

“ **Could… could I see the sun? And trees? And grass, and, and- the real world?** ” he asked, voice sounding slightly less distorted. Janus smiled.

“Yes, yes! We’ll show you everything, it’ll be like an adventure,” he said, holding out his arms. Virgil still looked a little hesitant, but he took a deep breath and stood up. Janus felt most of the fear ebb away, until he realized that his own fear was all that was left. Virgil hopped down from the base of the cylinder, and he took a few trembling steps forward.

“You promise you won’t hurt me?” he asked, sounding like a normal, scared boy for the first time since he had begun speaking to Janus.

“You're safe with me. I'll protect you," Janus said firmly. The barest of smiles grew over Virgil’s face, and he rushed into Janus’s arms. Janus froze for a moment or two, but quickly recovered and held Virgil close to his chest, despite his injured wrist. A hand was placed on Janus’s shoulder, and he looked up to see Remus grinning down at him.

“Looks like you’ve made a friend!” he cooed. Janus looked back down at Virgil.

“Something tells me that our bond will become much more than that. Welcome to our little family, Virgil.”


End file.
